Progress Illinois

With a handful of states too close to call, few votes are being taken for granted in the lead-up to Election Day. In the rush to get ahead of voter registration deadlines, civil rights advocates are hoping to enfranchise an unlikely group of voters come November: Ex-offenders.

A state-by-state campaign is underway to get thousands of ex-offenders on the voting rolls, Stateline.org reports:

Both in little-contested states such as Texas and in perennial presidential-election battlegrounds such as Ohio, activists are knocking on doors trying to find former prisoners and inform them of their voting rights, visiting state prisons and jails to speak with soon-to-be-released inmates and helping to register those who are interested and allowed to vote.

The theory that ex-offenders could have an impact on the election's outcome is not a stretch. It's happened before. Just look at the 2000 presidential election where by targeting ex-offenders, Florida Republicans purged thousands of eligible voters from the rolls. Bush clinched the presidency by a mere 537 votes in the Sunshine State.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has led a nationwide effort -- the Voting Rights Project -- to wage legal challenges against state laws that restrict the ability of 5.3 million ex-offenders and incarcerated people to vote. In July, the organization filed suit against Alabama election officials who have the authority to bar people convicted of “moral turpitude” from voting.

But sometimes the biggest challenge isn't the law at all, said Ed Yohnkers, of the Illinois ACLU. It's fighting perception.  Even in the Prairie State, some ex-offenders need a nudge before recognizing that they are eligible to vote. "It's an ongoing misperception, " he said. "It certainly still needs to be challenged."